St Patrick's Day Experiment
by buffy46143
Summary: Quinntana Week 2014 Day 6- Holiday: Santana convinces Quinn to take a spring break St. Patrick's day trip down to New Orleans about a month after "I Do." They're both trying to determine where they go from there. One-Shot.


"Santana, why do you even want to go?" Quinn asked through the phone as she sat on her Yale dorm room bed, drawing doodles absentmindedly in her notebook.

"Because it's New Orleans and it's St. Patrick's Day, Q. We could go for Mardi Gras, but your spring break is perfectly timed with another New Orleans party holiday and I think your break should be an actual break. Not just you holed up in your 6x6 cell of a room by yourself while the rest of us are out enjoying our youth."

It had been two weeks since Valentine's Day when Santana and I hooked up and we'd managed to get back to our normal friendship if you could ever call what we had/have a normal. She'd found out about my spring break and the fact that I had no plans and for the last week had been trying to convince me to go to New Orleans with her. A girl she works with has an old college roommate that lives there and has offered a room to us if we want it. It's just like Santana to want to go to a strange city and crash in the guest room of someone she's only talked to on Facebook.

"Who else is going?" I asked her wondering if anyone else from the loft would be there.

"No one. Berry and Hummel are staying in NYC. They're not on break that week. One of the benefits to dropping out of school. It affords me the vacation time I deserve."

"So, just you and me?"

"Yes Fabray, it's just you and me, but don't go thinking I'm trying to get back in your pants or rather those school girl type skirts you're always rocking. Been there. Done that."

"Whatever Santana."

"It's a free place to stay along the parade route. You've never been there. I've never been there. We have two freshly tested and approved fake IDs and a street named Bourbon awaiting us. Just say yes already, Quinn. You know you'll eventually give in anyway because you know I'm right and we'll have a blast."

"I'll let you know."

"Whatever Quinn." She mimicked my earlier response with sarcasm.

I hung up on her as I often did when she got snarky. I don't like rewarding her bad behavior by staying on the phone. I smiled at my phone at the thought of trying to punish her by hanging up on her. Santana probably thought of that more as a reward.

Since our hook-up, things had gotten back to how they were before in my life with the exception of talking to Santana more and ending that thing with the professor for good. I was glad I'd gone back to Mr. Schu's wedding even though I thought it was dumb for a former student to go back to their choir director's wedding, it turned out to be a good thing. I had a fun night with San and it sort of, I don't know, reinvigorated me or something. The truth was that I would go to New Orleans with her because of two reasons. 1. I had nothing else to do and 2. I missed her. When we were in high school, there was the Unholy Trinity, but that always included Brit. This would really be the first time we'd spend any significant time together just the two of us. Well, there was the wedding, but other than that, our friendship always seemed to include our other best friend or the myriad of guys we dated. I was actually excited to see what kind of trouble she'd get me into on this trip. I swiped my phone and went to my messages. I typed, "I'm in" to her and clicked send. It took only a minute for her reply.

Santana: Of course you are.

"Smart ass." I said to myself and went back to my doodling.

"Fabray, how much crap did you bring?" Santana asked as she helped me drag my stuff from the train to her car, which we would be driving to New Orleans from New York because that was cheaper than flying and we'd have a car down there since we were still too young to rent one. Plus, she really wanted to road trip it.

"I don't know. Enough stuff for the week. There's a day outfit and a night outfit for all 5 days. I didn't know if we'd go anywhere fancy so I brought a nice dress just in case and then shoes to match." I paused from defending myself. "Wait, why am I defending myself to you? How much crap are you bringing, Lopez?"

"Twice as much as you, obviously."

I laughed at her as we shoved my big suitcase into the trunk next to her suitcase, which looked to be about the same size and then I took a look in the backseat and knew she was right. There were two more bags there and a cooler, which I guessed she had filled with snacks for the trip.

"You ready?" I asked her as she closed the trunk.

"For a 19 hour road trip with you? Please, I'll never be ready."

"We really should have just flown." I remarked thinking about how long 19 hours really is.

"Probably, but neither of us has ever been on a real road trip before unless you count one with New Directions, which I of course do not count. We've got music, air conditioning, my dad's gas card, snacks in the back and two hot college age chicks heading to a party town. Besides, it'll really be more like 17 hours. I drive fast and we're only stopping to pee and grab food to eat in the car. I want my spring break to start as soon as possible." She hopped in the driver's seat and I slid into the passenger seat. She turned the car on and the radio instantly started blaring R&B. She turned it down and looked at me. "Where to, Fabray?"

I looked at her, confused because she knew where we were going. Then, it dawned on me because I knew what she wanted me to say.

"I'm not saying that, San."

"Come on."

I rolled my eyes and looked out the side window, propping my elbow against it.

"Big Easy." I said reluctantly toward the glass.

"Fabray, don't call yourself that. You're not easy. I don't care what that professor you banged told you."

"Bitch." I called her and smiled through the window, rolling it down so I could feel the air on my face as we started driving out of the Manhattan traffic toward our destination.

We were about 8 hours into the long drive when Santana pulled over at a rest stop in the Deep South and got out to stretch her legs. We made an agreement that neither of us would fall asleep while the other was driving, but I had a long day of classes before we left and then got little sleep preparing for the trip, so I woke up after about an hour long nap to the slowing car.

"Where are we?" I asked through squinted eyes before putting my sunglasses back on. We had started early in the morning so it was only about 5 and the sun was setting. I looked through the windshield at Santana who was stretching her body in front of the car. Her shirt lifted just enough for me to see the small of her back.

"We are in the middle of nowhere. The land of Confederate flags and people who if they found out I like girls, would probably hang me so you'll understand why I don't want to be here longer than we have to be." She paused and turned back to me and smiled a mischievous smile. "Think I could get any of these lonely truckers to buy us something from the vending machine?"

"Gross, San. We have snacks and you really need to be careful about who you're flashing those assets to. We are in the middle of nowhere, remember?"

"Don't get jealous, Q. I'm not going to do anything with them. Just use them for Cheetos and Diet Coke."

"Go to the bathroom and grab me something to drink. I'll take over from here." I paused as she rolled her eyes. "And thanks for letting me sleep a little. I was exhausted."

"Don't get used to it, Fabray. There will be no sleeping on this vacation. You and I are going to actually have some damn fun. So, don't go planning any museums or historical tours or anything that I would consider boring."

She turned and walked toward the restrooms. I didn't have to go so I just watched to make sure no one was following her in. She jokes about it, but you never know in a place like this. A few minutes later, she was back at the car with drinks and snacks to fill our now empty cooler and we were on our way, this time with me driving.

A couple of hours later, Santana was asleep next to me using one of my hoodies as a pillow against the window. We got stuck in traffic on a bridge and there was no escape so I just listened to the music that I had turned down a little so it wouldn't wake her and I looked over to watch her scratch her nose. I smiled a little because she really did look cute when she slept. Maybe that's because when she sleeps is about the only time she's quiet.

"Stop staring, Fabray. It's not gonna happen again no matter how much you want it to." She opened her eyes and looked at me.  
"I wasn't staring. I was just looking over. You're the one that said there would be no sleeping on this trip." I shoved her shoulder and the cars moved along and soon we were out of the traffic and I started thinking about how I really was staring and wondered why.

"You must be Quinn and Santana. I'm Katie." A short, blonde greeted us immediately as we exited the car we parked on the street between two other cars and the thing barely fit. Quinn made a note to have Santana try to move it since it was her car and she'd never hear the end of it if she scratched it trying to maneuver it out of the tight space.

"Hey, I'm Santana obviously and this is Quinn. Thanks for letting us stay here. That's pretty awesome of you."

"Of course. Courtney said you guys were just looking for a place to crash and that she owed you for saving her from the creepy guy in the fedora. She said you'd fill me in on that, but I've got the extra room since my brother moved in with his girlfriend and the parade is just on that street." She pointed toward the corner. "You can hang with us if you want. We usually start drinking early around here."

"I like the way you think, Katie." Santana stated while I just shook my head at her.

We were standing in the middle of the road and a car was approaching on the narrow, uneven street so we moved to the sidewalk and started unloading our bags. Katie was kind enough to help and we made our way to the other side of the street and into her apartment after taking a few steps on a small, cement porch. The door creaked as we entered. The floor was uneven just like the street outside. There were steps to the left leading upstairs. As I brought in my first bag, I looked up and noticed there was a loft and to the left looked to be a bedroom. The living room was small and there were two futons with and old TV. It had been a while since Quinn had seen a TV that wasn't a flat screen. Katie dropped a bag inside another room, which was straight ahead and Santana followed her in. Quinn set her big bag down so it would be easier for her to move past the futon on the left and between the coffee table and the other futon.

"This is the guest room now that my brother's not here. The bathroom is through there. Feel free to use the closet or any of the drawers. He left most of his old furniture behind since his girlfriend had nicer stuff. It's no taj mahal. The apartment building barely made it through Katrina and the landlord is just above slum, but NOLA is home and I've been here for a while now so, you know, I'll probably die here." She joked while San and I looked around. The bed was a full and the dresser lined the other wall. There were boxes in the corner that probably belonged to Katie's brother. There was no TV or really anything else in the room. The bathroom was to the left and Quinn looked in. It was small. It had one sink immediately on the left, the toilet and then an old tub that had rust around the drain. Using this tiny space with Santana was going to be complicated and Quinn was trying not to be a spoiled brat, but she was used to better accommodations at her dorm at Yale and that was saying something. She tried not to show it to Katie though because she was nice enough to let them stay for free. "My room is up stairs and you probably noticed I'm a bit of a hoarder. The loft is filled with bins of my crap I need to sort through and decide what to do with. Actually, half of it belongs to my ex-boyfriend who used to live here. That's also a story for another time. I'm sure you two are exhausted."

"Yeah, it took forever to get here. This one drives about 50 on the freeway." Santana pointed at me.

"There was a police officer following us for the last 200 miles. Didn't really want to start my spring break with a speeding ticket or in jail when this one over here inevitably says something snarky to the cop." I pointed at her and got squinted eyes back.

"Snarky, really Fabray?"

"How long have you two been together?" Katie asked.

"What?" I asked her.

"You guys make a cute couple."

"Q and I are not a couple." Santana explained.

"Oh, Courtney just mentioned you were…"

"Gay? Yeah, I am, but Quinn's just my friend."

"Oh, I guess I just assumed and then you two act like… never mind. Well, are you cool sleeping in the same bed because the futons are pretty comfy. I can make one of them up for you. You'd have the TV. There's cable. I just don't watch much myself so I don't have any of the fancy channels." With that sentence, Katie's southern accent was more prominent.

"It's fine. We've shared a bed before." I offered trying to get out of this conversation that had suddenly brought me back to Valentine's Day.

"Okay. Let me at least show you the kitchen and then I'll leave you alone and I have a spare key you can borrow so you can come and go as you please." She showed us the small, tunnel like kitchen and the tiny dining room that was behind the staircase in front of the kitchen. "There are chips and some drinks if you want anything. Tomorrow, I'll start making the real party food for the parade. If you want anything else, the Walgreens is within walking distance and they're open for another hour or so."

"I'm starving actually. Is there anywhere we can get a pizza or a burger or something?" Santana asked. "I'm in the mood for something greasy. It's vacation and I've been off carbs for too long."

"There's a bar across the street. Go up to the second story. You can order there. Food's pretty good. There's another bar about a block over. Same kind of food, but it's an Irish place so they have good deals this week and their fish and chips are pretty good."

"Cool. Thanks."

"Is it safe?" I asked.

"It's about 100 yards away. You can see the apartment from the first one and the other one is brightly lit. Just keep your purses in front of you."

"Yeah, yeah. Quinn, we won't take candy from strangers and I'll go Lima Heights-"

"Santana, do not say anything about Lima Heights Adjacent." That was her go-to bad-ass phrase and I was tired and not in the mood. "It's night time in a strange city. I just want to be smart."

She looked at me and gave me a look that told me she understood. It was a look I don't often get from her.

"We'll take care of each other, Q. Deal?"

"Let's just get something quick. I'm tired."

"I'll show you guys the way. I'm going to get to bed. I have to work tomorrow."

"We'll be quiet when we come in."

"No worries. You're on vacation and it's not like I actually care about my job. I manage the coffee place around the corner."

"Everything seems to be around the corner here." Santana told her while shuttling my big suitcase into the room we'd be sharing.

"Welcome to New Orleans."

"This humidity is going to kill my hair. No me gusta." Santana expressed while taking a hair rubber band out of her purse and throwing her hair into a loose ponytail as we walked across the street, past the car and right toward the bar. There were indeed two stories and the top story was at least partly open to the outside. I looked toward the bouncer that was carding a couple of guys as they entered.

"San, they're carding."

"So, we've got our fakes."

"They worked with a hotel bartender in Lima Ohio. This guy probably sees fakes everyday."

"Quinn, calm down. If the IDs don't get us in here, there are a thousand other bars in this town that won't card. I don't even want alcohol right now. I just want food."

"What if he calls the cops?" I was walking behind her slowly as if she could shield me from the bouncer, but given the fact that I'm a lot taller than her, it was a pretty terrible plan on my part.

"What happened to the Quinn Fabray that was in that hotel room that night? I miss her. This new version of you is less bad-ass and more whiney grandma."

We approached the bouncer before I could retort and Santana confidently pulled out her ID and passed it over to him. He looked at it with a flashlight before handing it back to her. Moment of truth.

"You're good." He mumbled and then put his hand out to take mine. I less confidently pulled mine out of my wallet from behind my real driver's license and passed it along.

"Go ahead."

"Thanks buddy." Santana pulled me by the arm inside as if he might change his mind and we walked through the skinny room that had the bar on the left and a row of small tables on the right.

"There." I told her as I spotted the staircase toward the back and we made our way past a crowd of people already decked out in green. "I guess they really do take this holiday seriously around here."

"I'm surprised you don't. You're pasty enough. You've got to have some Irish blood in there somewhere." She joked as we made our way up the stairs speaking loudly over the rock music.

"I'll hop on later and let you know."

We walked up to an outdoor counter where a guy in a dirty apron was preparing bar food. He took our order and we sat at the only available deck style table available.

"That girl is staring at you, San." I told her keeping my glance on a girl who looked to be a little older than us. She was sipping on her beer while staring in our direction. I could tell she was checking out Santana.

"I don't feel like being social tonight. I just want food and sleep."

"Really? She looks cute and I think she's walking over… yeah, she's definitely walking over here."

"Crap."

The girl with a pixie cut approached from behind Santana and looked at me first before looking at her.

"Hi, I'm Jane."

"Hey." I greeted while Santana looked up at her and hesitated before looking at me and getting a "just go with it" look on her face.

"You guys from here or…"

"Babe, do you want a beer? I can go grab you one." Santana said while looking at me. "We're just here for spring break." She said to Jane. "Beer, babe?" She repeated while looking at me with pleading eyes.

"No, I'm good. Thanks, honey." I replied, drawing out the honey for emphasis knowing she'd hate being called that. "We're just getting our food to go. Long trip. We're exhausted." I told Jane knowing it was a little rude, but that it would probably be better than whatever Santana would tell her to get her to go away.

"Oh okay, well I'll let you two get back to it. Have a good break." She walked off quickly back to her table.

"What was that about?" I asked Santana.

"I told you I wasn't in the mood to be social, Q."

"You didn't have to be a bitch though."

"I work at a bar, Quinn. Forgive me if I'm over people hitting on me left and right all the time and especially when all I want to do is grab some food and go."

"You're not forgiven. You need to learn actual grown up ways to deal with things instead of just going to the be a bitch place."

"Lecture me after I've eaten. It's for your own good, Fabray."

I found myself once again rolling my eyes at her. This was going to be a long vacation.

Our food arrived and we grabbed the brown bags and started the walk back toward the apartment. We weren't sure if Katie would like us eating in the bedroom, but we didn't want to wake her if she was already asleep so we made our way to the bedroom. After eating, we started to unpack our stuff for the night and clothes for the next day. We'd deal with the rest later. I let Santana use the bathroom first to avoid any conflicts I was too tired to deal with and we fell asleep.

I woke to Santana's arm over my stomach and her head next to, but not on my shoulder. I slid out from underneath her and walked over to the bathroom to take a long shower. The door didn't have a lock, but I figured when Santana heard the shower running, she wouldn't just walk in. I was wrong.

"Fabray, how long you going to be in there?"

"Santana, I'm in the shower. Get out." I sort of yelled at her.

"Not like I haven't seen it before. Just let me hop in with you and we can kill two birds with one stone."

"Get out!"

"Not what you said on February 15th before we checked out."

She left the room and closed the door behind her. I finished up and she showered. She made sure to let me know that the hot water ran out on her and that it was my fault. Katie was already at work when we were done getting ready. We decided to leave the car where it was so as to not lose our prime parking spot and walk around a little. Katie did say a lot of stuff was just around the corner.

We left the apartment with our hair pulled back since it wouldn't look any better down with all the humidity and made our way toward Magazine Street.

"So, I think we should grab breakfast and then hit the French Quarter." Santana told me as she pointed across the street at a restaurant. "That looks good."

"That's fine, but the Quarter isn't really that close so we'll need to take the bus. I looked up the stops and everything before I left school so we just need to find the closest one to here."

"I am not getting on a bus, Fabray. We'll take a damn cab."

Our breakfast was amazing. We each got something Southern and shared it and after a couple cups of dark roast coffee for energy, we were in a cab headed to the French Quarter.

"San?"

"Yeah?" She was staring out the window at the massive amounts of tourists lining the streets.

"Why did you really want me to come with you?"

"Here?" She looked over at me. "I told you. It's your break and you seemed like you could use one and a free place to crash."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, why?" She sat up and leaned more toward me. "Alright fine, no one else wanted to come with me. Rachel and Kurt couldn't and I can't exactly bring Brittany and I don't really have a lot of other friends. Courtney was originally going to come with me, but she had to back out. She has another job and they wouldn't give her the time off."

"So, I was your last choice? Nice, San."

"What? You asked. Besides, it's not like that." She paused. "You were the most awkward choice."

"Oh." Now, I understood.

"I haven't had a one-night stand with any of them and then tried to have a friendship after the fact." She paused again as the cab pulled over. "Also, I kind of thought it would be cool if we spent some actual time together after what happened. You know, friends getting back to being friends." I paid the driver and we got out and stood on the sidewalk. "If we're on this topic though, why did you agree to come with me?"

"Same, I guess." That was a mostly honest response. "We've changed since McKinley and glee and-"

"You wanted to test us in the outside world. Make sure we could work… as friends."

"Yeah, it's just that sometimes you're friends with people forever and sometimes you lose touch and sometimes you realize you're just different people and you probably aren't going to be living in the same retirement community in Florida when you're 80."

"I will never live in Florida, Fabray. So, if that's your plan, we might as well just part ways now."

I laughed and we started walking down Canal Street taking in our surroundings as we went. It was only noon, but people already had their alcohol and bad behavior on display. We wandered around taking in the sights and sounds of the city. There was a jazz band playing loudly in the street and we stopped to listen. I bought their CD and Santana laughed at me and called me a "typical tourist." We made our way down Bourbon and it was like a whole new world opened up before me. This place definitely wasn't like Lima or New Haven. It had a spirit all its own and while I was slightly grossed out by the smell of stale beer and whatever was mixed with it, I was having a good time.

"Q, we have to go in here and have a hurricane."

She pointed at a sign for Pat O'Brien's.

"Why?"

"Because they're famous for them. Come on."

We headed inside to the courtyard where there was a giant fountain that had water spewing, but also a flame inside it. I had to admit it looked pretty cool. We sat down and the waitress brought us hurricanes. The problem with hurricanes is that even though there's alcohol in them, you don't really taste it. So, after I ordered my second, I started to feel it without realizing it and Santana ordered us our third in to go cups because in this city, we can walk around and drink.

We walked into another bar called Cat's by the locals, but the sign says The Cat's Meow. I was fascinated by these buildings. They all had two stories at least with balconies where beads were hanging, it appeared, year round. We noticed there was karaoke and drunk Santana doesn't take any coaxing to get up on stage so after getting another drink from the bar and having her name called, she hopped on stage and took the microphone.

She sang Valerie because that was her go-to song and I stood to the side and watched her perform to the crowd's delight. The girl really has stage presence. I don't really sing anymore so when she asked me to join her, I declined. I had to admit performing was fun and I missed it sometimes, but the real reason I stayed in glee club was because it was the one place I felt like I could belong. I made a lot of mistakes. There was the pink hair, the tattoo, the trying to get Shelby arrested for child neglect, trying to give my baby to Schuester's wife, and now that I'm thinking of those two things back to back, I really do sound horrible, but glee was the place that kept taking me back. I felt like I was on chance number 15 by the time we graduated, but they still liked me. Santana was kind of the same. Different mistakes, but we were both a part of New Directions and as she finished her song and everyone applauded I remembered how much fun she can be when she's happy.

"You up next, Q?" She asked as she hopped off the stage and approached me and took her drink from my hand.

"No, I'm good. You were great though."

"Of course I was."

We made our way up stairs where there were barely any other people and watched over the railing at the performers below for a while before heading out to the balcony for some much needed air and the view.

"Admit it, you're having fun."

"I am, yes."

"I knew I could get you to let loose again."

"It's not that hard after like 5 drinks, San."

"Just give me credit, Quinn."

"Fine. You win. You are the sole cause for all the fun I've ever had in my life ever."

"That's better."

We left Cat's and started toward what Santana called the gay part of Bourbon Street and I could see the rainbow flags on telephone poles, as we got closer. It was nearing 8 and we hadn't had dinner and after all the drinks I'd had I was definitely more than drunk. Santana would also fail a Breathalyzer.

We made our way into the gay bar and Santana, feeling particularly social saw a girl she thought was hot and approached her immediately. I was left at a table on my own while she flirted. I'm not surprised. I kind of figured this would happen. I'm not one to generally flirt with someone at a bar, but San definitely is and especially when she's drunk.

"Hey, can I get you a drink?"

There was a girl standing in front of me with her jet-black hair in a French braid. My eyes attempted to focus, but my current state was making it difficult to focus on anything.

"No thanks. I need to sober up a little." Great, Quinn! Tell a stranger your super drunk in a bar in a strange city.

"Water then?" She asked seeming nice, but a lot of people seem nice when you're drunk.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Are you here by yourself?" She asked in a genuinely concerned tone.

"No, my friend is over there talking to a girl."

"Oh, got it."

I squinted at her trying to process.

"Got what exactly?"

"You're the straight friend tagging along, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess."

"Your friend ditched you to flirt."

"Yeah, but it's fine. I knew it would happen."

"I'll be right back."

"Okay." I said to the air since she had already turned to walk toward the bar. A few moments later, she brought me a cup of water. I sat it on the small table in front of me. My brain was telling me not to drink it since a stranger had given it to me. I remembered the videos they made us watch in health class about not taking open drinks at parties.

"I'm Sam." She told me when she noticed I wasn't going to take a drink.

"I know a Sam." I stated loudly as if it was something to declare. "He's a guy though."

She laughed at me and took a drink of her beer.

"Yeah, it's a pretty common name. Where are you from?"

"Ohio, but I go to Yale."

"So, you're a smarty, huh?"

"She's a genius." Santana had apparently noticed Sam and I talking and made her way back over to the table leaving the girl she was talking to alone.

"This is Santana and I'm Quinn. Santana's gay."

"Jesus, Quinn. Hold your liquor a little better."

"You two are funny."

"We're a regular laugh riot, but we're leaving."

"Why? I'm talking to Sam." I told her trying to figure out why we'd be leaving when we just got here.

"This place is boring. I want to go back to Cat's."

"Well, I want to stay here."

"I can make sure she gets back alright if you want to go." Sam looked at Santana and then back to me. "I promise I'm not a crazy person."

"It's okay. I'll just go with her."

"Don't act like I'm forcing you, Q. If you want to stay, stay. I'm just over it. We can just meet back at the apartment."

"I don't think we should separate, San."

"Then fucking come with me."

There was something in her voice that told me she was upset.

"Sam, it was nice to meet you. Sorry, I'm a little tipsy and didn't actually drink the water you brought me because it could have had drugs in it."

She laughed again.

"There are no drugs in your water, I promise."

"That's exactly what someone trying to drug my hot friend, Quinn over here would say."

"I guess you're right. It was nice meeting you too. I'm here for the next few days if you guys are around." She wrote her number on a napkin and handed it to Quinn.

"Cool. Thanks. Bye."

Santana took my hand and we left the bar, making our way back toward Cat's.

"I was thinking maybe we just hit up Cat's for another couple of drinks and then-"

"San, what happened back there? We weren't even there ten minutes and you're ready to go. I thought you were talking to that girl."

"She was lame. A math major at USC. Who majors in math? Just use a calculator."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." She paused to look at me and then stopped walking. I stopped to and leaned against the wall of a building to make sure I could stand upright. "Look, she was rude and I didn't really want to talk to her anymore no matter how hot she was."

"What did she say?"

"She told me I was probably one of those girls who would be gay until graduation."

"She what?" I was growing upset.

"I walked up and did my thing. It's been a while since I've flirted. Well, I never really had to flirt before. I mean, I dated Brit and then hooked up with you and that's the experience of my dating girls. Well, unless you count Dani and I wouldn't since we barely even touched each other and she was always off doing her own thing and then she just kind of disappeared." She paused to, I guess, remember her brief relationship. "Anyway, when I walked up and started talking, it was fine until I told her how old I was. I should have just told her 21, but I said I was 19 and she said she was 24 and she told me that she didn't hook up with girls that young. It's not like I was planning to fuck her, but some making out would have been fun. She seemed kind of stuck up. A little like you in that way."

"Hey!"

"Sorry. Anyway, she said I was probably just some straight girl experimenting or maybe bi and she doesn't do bi girls."

"Those were her words?"

"Yeah, but I threw some patented Lopez bitch remarks right back at her and then joined you and your new girlfriend."

"Sam is not my new girlfriend. I don't have an old girlfriend." I was very drunk.

"Come on, Quinn. Let's get you some food and head back to the apartment."

"It's not even 9 yet."

"Yeah, but we've been at it all day and I'm kind of ready to call it a night. We can stay out if you want to though. I kind of just pulled you away. Sorry, I just didn't want to be there while that judgmental bitch was there."

"I understand. Besides, I did get a number. That makes one of us." I joked with her.

"Who writes their number on a napkin anymore?" She joked back and we headed to where we knew the cabs would be lining up dropping off people for their night of debauchery just as we were wrapping ours up. We had the driver stop at a hole in the wall restaurant off of Magazine that we knew was close to Katie's apartment. We ate quickly and walked the rest of the block to Katie's.

"Hey, you two. You're back early." She was sitting on one of the futon's with her laptop.

"Yeah, we're exhausted. Good time though."

"Well, rest up because tomorrow's going to be long too. It's an all day, all night affair around here."

"I can't believe I'm about to go to bed and it's only 10pm."

"You're a regular party animal, Lopez." I walked past Katie and into the bedroom where I promptly fell onto the bed face down. I heard Santana say good night to Katie and close the door behind her when she got into the room.

"Fabray, you are a mess. You can't sleep like that."

"It's fine."

"No, it's not. You're taking up the whole damn bed."

She moved my legs and I was then forced to roll over and to one side of the bed. She lay down next to me.

"You still drunk?" She asked me.

"Yeah, a little."

"Me too."

"Wanna just fall asleep in our clothes because I don't even want to move to put on pajamas?"

"Hey Quinn?"  
"Yeah?"

"Would you have done anything with that girl tonight?"

"Who? Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Anything like what?" I looked over at her without moving my body. She rolled onto her side to face me.

"You know what I mean."  
"Oh, no."

"Really?"

"San, I talked to her for like 3 minutes. She seems nice, but I wouldn't have done anything with her."

"Because she's a girl or because you just met her?"  
"My brain is not working at full capacity. Spit it out, San."

"Since Valentine's Day have you thought about… God, this is lame. Have you thought about…"  
I rolled to face her.

"Are you asking me if I'm gay?"

"No, I just… I don't know. Forget it. Just go to sleep."

"Santana, stop. Just tell me what you want to know."

She paused and I could see in her eyes that she was trying to find the right way to say whatever she was trying to say.

"Did you like it?"

"Sex with you?"

"We never talked about it. You got on your plane the next day and I got on mine and we've talked since, but not about that."

"San, you know I did. I mean, we did it more than once."

"It's different hearing you actually say it though."

"Well, I did. Happy?"

She leaned in.

"So did I."

"San…"

"I didn't want to say anything because you said you didn't want to do it again, but-"

"You're taking it out of context."

"No, I'm not, Fabray. You were pretty clear after the first time."

"Why are we even talking about this?"

"Because I'm vulnerable and drunk and I just want to know if you've thought about it since then."

"Of course I've thought about it."

She leaned in further, sliding her body over a little until she was a few inches away.

"And?"

"We can't do it again, San."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not what either of us actually wants."

"You don't want me?" I could tell she was being facetious, but there was a seriousness in her voice too. It was the vulnerability that comes out when she's drunk.

"Taking things out of context again, San." I looked into her eyes. "I don't know what I am."

She looked confused.

"What?"

"I liked what we did. What does that make me?"

"Quinn."

"San-"

"No, I'm serious. You can just be Quinn for now. You don't have to make a grand declaration or anything. At least not to me."

"Then, why did you ask?"

"Because I've wanted to do it again and I didn't know how to tell you or if I should tell you. I don't want to ruin this." She pointed back and forth in the small space between us. "I might just be drunk or maybe just horny. It's been a while."

"So, you want sex?" I stated directly.

"Not when you make it sound like that. I just liked it too and I thought maybe I'd see if you had thought about doing it again."

"I don't do friends with benefits, Santana."

"You don't really do relationships either, Quinn. Most of the ones you've had were pretty terrible and admit it, you didn't actually love any of them."

"I've got a new outlook on relationships. I'm not going to let anyone define me or use them to try to make me happy. I'm going to be happy and then find someone who adds to that. I'm over just dating to have someone on my arm."

Santana smiled at me.

"I wish you luck, blondie." She rolled away from me.

"What? That's it? The discussion's over?"

"You've pretty much made your opinion clear."

"Then, I must still be drunk because I feel like things just got a whole lot foggier."

"I was just testing the waters, Quinn. You're hot and I'm hot. The sex was hot is all I'm saying."

I had a feeling that wasn't really all she was saying, but that she was done talking. I rolled over and faced the wall, but my eyes were still open contemplating what had just happened. The alcohol was starting to wear off, but I felt like I would need to wake up tomorrow after sleeping it off before I could begin to really understand it.

When I woke, I was still in my clothes from the night before and I smelled like cigarette smoke. I made a mental note to give Katie money in case she wanted to dry clean these bed linens after we left and I headed to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. It was only 8am so I decided to let Santana sleep in. Also, I wasn't really ready to talk to her so I thought it would be best to stay away from her and just hope she was drunk enough that she'd forget about the whole, awkward thing. I went to the kitchen and found Katie there.

"Happy St. Patrick's Day!" She said loudly.

"Yeah, you too." That was my groggy reply.

"Oh sorry, you hung over?"  
"No, I'm okay. Just still half asleep I think. Can I help with anything?" She was in the middle of making what looked to be like three things.

"Nah, I'm good. I'm just finishing up the 7 layer dip and the crock pot is already on for the meatballs I made earlier."

"Earlier? How long have you been up?"

"Since 6. I told you things start early today. We're going to start setting up for the parade if you want to help with that. I've already got the chairs outside. I just need them down on the corner before everyone else marks their spot."

"Okay. That seems easy. I can do that."

"And we have a cooler of beer mostly. If you want something else, Walgreens is already open."

"Yeah, I don't think I'm going to drink today."

"You have to drink today. It's a requirement of being in NOLA on St. Patrick's Day."

"I don't know. It didn't seem to work out so well for me last night."

She paused what she was doing and looked at me.

"What happened? Wait. You don't have to tell me. Probably personal."

"It is and it's a long story."

"Is it about you two?" She asked and nodded toward the bedroom. I could hear the shower running behind the wall, which told me Santana was awake and getting ready.

"Yeah, she's just hard to read sometimes."

"She's got a thing for you, doesn't she?"

That was surprising.

"What?"

"I haven't spent much time with you two, but she seems to stare at you a lot. That's why I thought you guys were together. Well, one of the reasons. Courtney mentioned something when she was asking if it was cool if you guys crash since she couldn't make it."

"What did she say?"  
"Just that Santana was cool and that she wanted to bring you and that she was pretty sure you two were together or would be together soon. Santana talks about you at work, I guess."

"You sure that was me? She was dating someone for a minute."

"No, I'm sure it was you unless Santana knows another Quinn." She paused as I leaned against the doorframe. "You're not into it and she is. Awkward."

"It's not like that. It's complicated. We have a complicated history."

"Trust me. I get it. My ex and I… well, he's horrible. So, you can imagine if I stuck with him for 3 years that it was complicated."

"Yeah, I just need to talk to her sober, but I really don't want to talk about it at all at the same time. So, that makes it kind of hard. I'll figure it out though. I'll take the chairs out to the corner."

I rushed toward the door because I was getting to the part of the conversation I was trying to avoid. The part where I talk about feelings and Santana and I also wanted to get out of the apartment before she finished with her shower.

I stood on the corner and set the chairs up, marking our spot as I was watching others do the same. There was a little shop we had passed the night before that I wanted to go into, but it was closed then. It had some locally made jewelry and sunglasses that looked cool. So, I headed in and started looking around. I found a necklace that I liked and held it up in front of a mirror to get a better look.

"Looks good, Fabray. You gonna get it?"

I turned around to see Santana standing in the doorway.

"No, I was just looking around." I set the necklace back down and walked to the sunglasses.

"Katie said you were out here marking our territory. I was worried you were peeing all over the sidewalk or something." She walked over toward the sunglasses rack.

"Ha ha. I set the chairs up and then wanted to come in here. You got ready fast."

"Turns out when you're not bothering with your hair, you can get ready about 30 minutes faster. Who knew?"

I laughed at her and followed her glance to a pair of sunglasses.

"Try them on." I told her and pulled them from the rack.

"I already have like 10 pair."

"Since when do you turn down buying an accessory? Just try them on." I opened the glasses and slid them on over her ears grazing them in the process and wishing I had sunglasses on because I could tell my eyes were probably wide with surprise at the touch and the feeling it delivered. "They look good." I told her.

"Of course they do. I make everything look good." She looked at herself in the mirror.

"You going to get them?"

"No, but they do look good on me." She took them off and put them back. "We gonna talk about the thing we're not talking about?" She asked, still looking at the sunglasses.

"I don't really want to."

"Neither do I."

"Okay. So, are we just forgetting about it?"

"Sounds good to me." I knew I had a few more days of vacation with her on top of a long drive back to New York. Now was not the time to dive into questions about our friendship, the two-time thing we had and/or my sexual orientation.

"Okay. Well, that's settled then."

"Hey, they've got a bathroom in here. I'm gonna go. Meet you back outside?" She asked.

"You're like 2 minutes from Katie's. Why not go there?"  
"Because there happens to have food all over the place that needs to be made and her friends just showed up to help. I think I'm going to stay outside for a while."

"Until all the work's done?"

"Yup."

"Do you think we're taking advantage of her being so nice?"

"Nah, I got her a pretty nice hostess gift."

"You did?" I was shocked that Santana had even thought of it.

"Yeah, Court mentioned her ex took her IPod when they broke up. So, I got her a new one and wrapped it. I put on the card that it was from both of us."

"You got her an IPod?!"

"I had a lot of frequent flyer miles from going back and forth to Lima all the time this year. Turns out, you can convert them to points and those points get you things. I used some of them and paid the difference." She told me and I know I looked surprised. "What? I can be thoughtful sometimes. Go outside. I'll meet you there."

I walked back to the chairs and started people watching. I took out my camera and started taking pictures of people dressed head to toe in green. Some of them brought their dogs and some of those dogs had been died green. A few minutes later, Santana emerged and sat next to me. We sat quietly for a few minutes just watching the crowd grow until Katie brought out her friends and introduced them all to us. David and Connor were students at LSU. Vicky was in law school at Tulane and Alison was a dental assistant. We all stood around and talked for a while taking frequent trips back to the air-conditioned apartment for food, cool air and drinks. By noon when the parade actually started, I was already exhausted. I had had 1 beer and the rest was all water in a red solo cup so it appeared I was drinking the hard stuff. Santana had a few more than that.

The parade was in full swing. Guys walked past with flowers. They'd give you one for a kiss on the cheek. Beads were thrown from floats. Santana kept piling them up on my neck, thinking it was hilarious and they started to actually weigh me down. She was very clearly enjoying herself and I watched as she talked to David about how one of the people on the float had thrown a can of Mountain Dew and he caught it just above her head. I heard him say something about saving her life. I thought about how he was barking up the wrong tree because he wasn't getting any from her even if he did save her life.

There's something about Santana Lopez that I don't know that I fully understood before. She is an enigma. My normal reaction when faced with puzzles is to solve them, but I've been trying to solve Santana for years and I've never been able to. One moment, she's the biggest bitch in the world and the next, she's buying a stranger an IPod to say thanks. Maybe she's not meant to be understood. Maybe that's the point.

After the parade, Santana was definitely drunk and was ready to go to dinner and then back to Bourbon Street for a night of more drinking. I was already exhausted from being in the sun all day, but I didn't want to miss out on the fun so I tagged along as we took a cab with Katie and her friends over to the Quarter. We all piled out of the van and walked immediately into party central. The music was loud, the people were obnoxious and it still smelled like beer.

We made our way over to Cat's where Santana performed yet another song and we all had Jello shots on the balcony. I noticed David was getting pretty close to her and his arm went to her back. I suddenly felt very protective. I'm sure David is a good guy, but I didn't like him touching her like that.

"You don't seem like you're having a lot of fun." Connor had walked over to me and handed me another shot he had just purchased from a passing waitress. "Maybe this will help."

"Thanks." I downed it and followed it with a drink of the beer I'd been holding onto for an hour.

"Q, I told you this would be fun." She told me once we were back inside and David and the rest of the gang remained outside.

"Yeah," I replied sarcastically.

"What's wrong with you? I thought you were having a good time."

"I am."

"You don't seem like it. That Connor guy seems into you."

"I've said maybe 10 words to him all day."

"He's a guy, Quinn. They're not known to be into girls talking a lot."

"I guess you would be the expert on guys now." I was surly and I could tell.

"What? Because I'm letting that Dave guy flirt with me? He's buying me drinks. Not like I'm going to put out or anything." She looked at me like she was really looking at me. "Are you jealous, Quinn?"

"No. I'm not jealous. I just don't think you should lead him on."

"He knows I'm gay. I told him a few minutes ago. I figured I'd let him know so he can go find a girl he has a chance of sleeping with tonight, but that's not why you're upset. You're freaking jealous!"

"I'm not jealous, San. I'm tired and a little tipsy and it's been a long day."

"Sure, Fabray. Whatever you say. I'm going back out there. You coming?"

"In a minute."

She walked back out to the balcony and joined in the festivities of throwing beads down on the crowd below. I stood there wondering if she was right. I could feel the alcohol really starting to kick in. I saw David's arm go back to her back and I rolled my eyes. That guy just wouldn't quit. My protective instinct came back out and as I was about to take a step back outside, I stopped.

"Crap." I said it out loud, but it was really more of an internal conversation. I wasn't being protective. I was jealous. I didn't like his hand on her even though I knew nothing would happen. I stayed inside until they all came in and said we were going to do a pub-crawl. I wasn't sure how much more I could take it was only about 9, but this had been the longest day.

We walked from bar to bar. They're literally right next to each other so it's convenient. I had a shot here and a shot there and at about the 4th place, I knew I was drunk. Santana had the same number of drinks as I did, but she's always been able to hold her liquor better than I do. By the time we were at bar number 5, I was ready to dance, but the place didn't have a dance floor so I walked over the San preparing to tell her I wanted to go somewhere else.

"Hey stranger." It was Sam and she was holding a beer.

"Sam!" I yelled over the music.

"Quinn!" She mimicked back.

"I'm drunk again."

"I can see that." She laughed.

"I promise I'm not an alcoholic or anything. I don't get drink like this all the time."

"You don't get _drink_ like this? I think you mean drunk and you're on vacation. Have fun!"

"I am having fun."

"I can tell. Where's your friend?"

"Over there. I was going to tell her that I want to dance, but you can't dance here."

"You can go somewhere else and dance if you want."

"I shouldn't. She's mad at me."

"Why is she mad at you?"

"Because she thinks I'm jealous of some guy, but I'm not."

"You're going to have to explain that one to me."

"He had his arm around her for drinks." I paused. "No, I mean he was getting her drinks and had his arm around her. He thought he could sleep with her."

"Oh." She laughed again. Apparently, I wasn't making sense.

"Santana's gay." I told her.

"I know. I remember."

"I'm not, but I like her. That's why I was jealous."

"I thought she was mad at you because she thought you were jealous."

"Right. I wasn't then, but I was later. I can't tell her. We're friends."

"Why don't you let me get you some water?"

"I think I want to sleep now." I went from wanting to dance to wanting to crash in under a minute. "But it's too early."

"Do you need some coffee maybe?"

"Yes! Coffee!" I shouted triumphantly as if I had never had coffee before and thought it was the greatest idea ever.

"Come on. I'll take you to Café Dumonde. They've got good coffee and beignets."

"Okay."

"Do you want to tell Santana?"

"I'll text her."

We left the bar and made our way to the café. It was pretty packed, but Sam told me it's always like this when she comes to town.

"I live in Atlanta. I come here once a year. My sister lives here."

"Cool."

"You're not really listening to anything I'm saying, are you?" She laughed as I shoved a beignet in my mouth. There was powdered sugar everywhere.

"I am." I wasn't. I sipped on my coffee. My phone rang. I held it up and looked at Santana's face. "It's Santana."

"You gonna answer?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk to her."  
"Did you text her to let her know you were here?"

"No."

"You should answer the phone, Quinn. She's probably worried about you."

"Fine." I looked at the phone and through blurry eyes, I slid the thing that made it so I could talk. "Hello."

"Quinn, where the fuck are you?"

"Café with Sam."

"What?! What café and why are you with Sam?"

"I wanted coffee. She brought me here."

"Oh my God, you can't just leave like that, Q. I've been freaking out. Looking for you all up and down the damn street. Why didn't you let me know?"

"I forgot. Don't yell." I told her.

"I'm coming there. Do not go anywhere and put that Sam girl on the damn phone."

"No. I don't want you to talk to her. You'll be nasty."

"Lucy Quinn Fabray, your drunk ass better hand that girl the phone right the hell now."

"She wants to talk to you. I'm sorry." I handed Sam the phone.

"Hello?" She paused. "Yeah, she's fine. She told me she was texting you." Pause. "I'll just bring her over there." Pause. "Give us about 10 minutes." Pause. "Yes, I promise." She hung up and handed me the phone.

"What did she say?"

"That she will have her abuela put a curse on me if I return you in anything less than pristine condition. I told her I'd take you back. You ready?"

"She doesn't even talk to her abuela anymore. So, you're fine." I nodded my head as if to assure her that no curse would be placed.

We headed back over in a cab and I was starting to sober up a little thanks to the carbs and the coffee.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"What do I do about Santana?"

"Do you like her?" She asked me.

"I like things about her. There are things I could do without."

"That's everyone who's ever liked anyone."

"She can be mean."

"So can I. So can you."

"Hey!"

"Did you really forget to text her where you were going?"

I paused to consider it.

"No. I just didn't."

"That's kind of mean Quinn. Like her as more than a friend or not, she sounded scared to death on the phone."

"Yeah, I'll probably pay for that one later."

"Come on. Let's get you back to her before she calls the cops."

The cab pulled over and we walked back in the direction of Cat's. I could see her standing in the street as a crowd dissipated to let a mounted police officer through on his horse. She was staring at her phone as if she was waiting on either a call or text from me or checking the time to see if it had been more than ten minutes. She did look scared. She finally looked up and saw me. I could see her sigh and her shoulders released the tension they were holding. Her hair was somewhat messy from the day and night of partying, but she was beautiful. My eyes seemed to focus only on her and my feet began to push me forward. Sam was standing next to me as we approached.

"As promised." She told Santana when we were only a few feet away.

"Quinn, you can't just run off like that. I thought something had-"

I pulled her in and my lips were on hers' while my arms went around her neck.

"Well, I guess we have our answer." Sam said.

Santana pulled back.

"Quinn, you can't just freaking kiss me! You're drunk."

"I wanted to kiss you. You're drunk too."

"I sobered the hell up when I realized you were missing and you said you didn't want… and now you're fucking kissing me in the middle of the road."

"You said… last night…"

She pulled away entirely and we were just standing in the road.

"I'm going to go find my sister. You guys good to get home?"

"We're fine. Thanks, Sam. Sorry I was pissed at you earlier."

"It's fine. I get it." She paused and looked Santana and then to me and then back to Santana. "Take care of her."

Santana looked at me.

"I will."

"Quinn, if I don't see you again while you're here, it was… interesting spending time with you."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I'm not normally like this." I was also pretty sober now that I just tried to kiss Santana and had been rejected pretty publically.

"We've all been there. When you like a girl, it makes you do crazy things."

Santana looked at Sam and then back to me at that comment. Sam said goodbye and walked back into the bar.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Looking for you. I sent them a text that you were on your way back so they'd know you're okay. I told them I was just taking you back to the apartment."

"I think that's a good idea."

"Let's go."

We walked silently past the crowd of not so silent people back toward Canal Street so we could catch another cab to Katie's apartment. We sat next to each other also in silence as I watched through still somewhat blurry vision, the lights and the people of the city pass us by. Santana paid the driver when we got to the corner and we walked into the apartment feeling the blast of the AC hit us immediately.

"I think I'm going to sleep out here tonight." She told me.

"We're not even going to talk about it?"  
"No." It was definitive and she walked into the bedroom, grabbed some stuff and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I waited for her to finish before walking into the bedroom and sitting on the edge of the bed. She came out of the bathroom in shorts and a tank top and threw her clothes from the day on top of her suitcase. "Good night, Quinn."

"Why is it we can only talk about this stuff when it's on your terms?" I asked. I had sobered up completely and was now more confident.

"What?" She turned back and stood in the doorway.

"Last night, you ended the discussion and tonight you just decided we're done talking about it. What if I want to talk about it?"

"You're drunk, Quinn. Just go to sleep. We'll deal with this in the morning."

"I'm not drunk, San. You can keep saying that if you want to, but I'm completely sober now and I want to talk about this."

She took a step into the room.

"About what? Last night, you said no. Now, you've suddenly changed your mind?"

"Last night, you were flirting with some girl at a bar and then you basically asked me if I wanted to have sex with you."

"And you said no."

"Because I didn't want to just have sex with you."

She took another step into the room and leaned against the dresser.

"I'm tired, Quinn."

"You were right earlier. I was jealous."

She perked up.

"You were?"

"Yeah, I didn't like the way he was touching you. I thought it was because I was being protective of you, but I realized it was because I was jealous."

She walked over and sat next to me on the bed. My heart started pounding in my chest and in the silence of the apartment, I was sure she could hear it.

"Can you tell me what you want?" She asked me and looked down at her hands in her lap.

"Can you tell me why you really invited me here?"

"You know I hate talking about lame feelings."

"Too bad, Santana."

"Fine." She paused and looked over at me. "Lie down."

"What?"  
"Just lie down, Quinn."

I squinted at her and then finally just decided to trust her and I lay down in my spot nearest the wall.

"There."

"The day of the wedding, I prepared myself for misery. Seeing Brit with Sam, boy Sam not girl Sam." She looked at me and I smiled. "I wasn't totally over her and I knew it was going to suck. You and I hadn't left things on the best of terms and Berry and Hummel had their own agendas to take care of so I was basically on my own." She looked over at me. "Then you and I started talking and it was just like this natural thing with you. It felt like how it should feel to talk to someone you've known for years. I'd missed that. Berry and Hummel knew me, but they didn't really _know _me. You know me though."

"Yeah, I do."

"That night was… well, you know. And the next day, when I got on the plane it was like it dawned on me." Another pause with a deep breath. "I'm into you, Q." I smiled and laughed silently as she looked away momentarily. "I'm not ready to start talking love or anything crazy like that, but I like you and not just as a friend. I knew you only wanted it to be that night so I didn't push, but I invited you here for all the reasons I gave, but also because I thought maybe I could test the waters or something. See if there was a chance for us to try this. I messed it up last night talking about sex. I flirted with that girl to see if I could get a reaction out of you and then she turned into a total bitch and I saw you with Sam and thought maybe you could be into girls and that's why I brought it up."

"You're into me?" I asked her with a smile.

"Oh God, don't go getting a big ole head about it, Fabray."

"Why did you basically push me off you when I tried to kiss you?"

"Because you were drunk. That's how it started last time. If it's going to be real, I don't want it to start off that way this time. I wanted to make sure you really meant it."

"I did mean it. I was drunk, but I meant it."

"And you're not drunk now?" She asked with hopeful eyes.

I just shook my head no.

She moved until she was hovering over me.

"Just to be clear, I want to date you. Not just sleep with you. You got that part, right?"

I laughed and put my arms around her back.

"I got that part, yeah."

"And I have no idea how we're going to do this with you at Yale and me in New York."

"Oh my God, Santana! Just kiss me already."

She smiled and leaned down to capture my lips. It felt even better than the first time we kissed, which had been something I'd been thinking about last night. I knew it would continue to be complicated. We still had a lot left to figure out, but it felt good just to be kissing her and knowing that we both wanted more than just a two-time thing. She pulled back for a moment and looked at me.

"I forgot. I have something for you."

"What?"

She jumped off the bed and went over to her suitcase where she pulled out a small box.

"I got this for you earlier."

She sat down on the bed and I sat up to take the box.

"What is it?"

"I think if you open it, you'll figure it out."

I rolled my eyes at her and took off the lid. I smiled as I saw the necklace I'd looked at earlier today and did actually really like, but I'd gotten nervous with her standing there so I played it off.

"You got this for me?"

"Yeah, I could tell you liked it. You were smiling at yourself in the mirror and I knew that it wasn't because you like looking at your hot self like I do."

I laughed.

"Help me put it on?"

She nodded and I reached the chain around my neck and felt her fingers graze my skin as she connected it and I turned back so she could see. It was a clear heart shape about the size of a quarter with a tiny black and white map of New Orleans on the back of it, which was visible through the clear glass. Santana took it in her hand and then her hand moved to my collarbone.

"It looks great on you, Q."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

I stared at her as her hand moved around to the other side of my neck.

"San?"  
"Huh?" She mumbled. Her attention was elsewhere.

"You know what this holiday is all about, right?"

"Something about snakes or whatever."

"Actually, I think it's about getting lucky."

She lifted her head and her eyes met mine and she gave me a cocky smile.

"I love this holiday."

I laughed at her as she laid both of us back down and reconnected our lips.


End file.
